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You must start before the sun comes up. We hit the trail at 3:30 AM, which was pretty great because we did the first 4 miles in the dark while half-asleep and it is much easier to have no idea how hard you’re working under these conditions. By 7:30, we’d gone the 7ish miles to Trail Camp.

We thought, “We’re kicking this trail’s ass, we’ll summit by 11:00 at this pace!” We had come prepared with headlamps, iodine, moleskin… the usual hiker must-haves, but we had not prepared for the Switchbacks (dun dun dun). It’s probably best that we didn’t know about them because it would have been impossible to mentally prepare for the combination of elevation, distance, incline, and acrophobia.

So, the switchbacks begin. This 1600 foot ascent that covers about two miles took around 2.5 hours. It’s not just that you’re climbing, it’s that you start the climbing at 12,000 feet after having already been hiking for 4 hours. And after you reach the top, it’s another 2 miles or so across a traverse between 13,500 and 14,000 feet before your final 500 foot ascent to the top. Before the final ascent, passers-by like to tell you, “You’re almost there!” so you start expecting a celebratory marching band and a round of applause after every turn, which was neither possible in this realm of reality nor true in its report of remaining distance. But, I suppose it’s all relative.

The only other 14ers I’ve summitted were in Colorado where tree line ends around 11,700 feet and then arctic tundra begins, so there are signs of life all the way to the top. In reflection, what stands out most about this hike is how for the great majority of it you walk across a rocky, barren terrain. But, while in the moment of hiking this mountain there isn’t just one thought that dominates because between the views, the blisters, the fellow hikers, and the “I’m the king of the world!” effect, your mind is busy the entire day. That is, until the end when you can’t think, can’t talk, and can’t move. Unless, of course, you’re choosing a restaurant, ordering dinner, and shoveling food into your mouth.